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‘Deadlock’ wasn’t an omen of things to come; it was just a bad episode. Phew! Every series has them. If anyone has watched a perfect series, please, share it with me. It is unfortunate that Galactica had an epic clunker so late into production when every episode needs to count. And it’s particularly frustrating when you know that some relatively minor tweaking could have made ‘Deadlock’, if not perfect, much better. But let us move on to what did work this week.

A piece of personal trivia, ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’ is one of my favorite standards and I was curious if they’d work the actual song into the episode, establish another tie to us. It wasn’t to be, but the sentiment of the song was certainly present. Here’s one version of the lyrics:

There’s a saying old, says that love is blindStill we’re often told, "seek and ye shall find"So I’m going to seek a certain lad I’ve had in mind

Looking everywhere, haven’t found him yetHe’s the big affair I cannot forgetOnly man I ever think of with regret

I’d like to add his initial to my monogramTell me, where is the shepherd for this lost lamb?

There’s a somebody I’m longing to seeI hope that he, turns out to beSomeone who’ll watch over me

I’m a little lamb who’s lost in the woodI know I could, always be goodTo one who’ll watch over me

Although he may not be the man someGirls think of as handsomeTo my heart he carries the key

Won’t you tell him please to put on some speedFollow my lead, oh, how I needSomeone to watch over me

(bridge)

Won’t you tell him please to put on some speedFollow my lead, oh, how I needSomeone to watch over me

Someone to watch over me

Parts of the song certainly fit Kara; other parts, if you change “he” to “she” apply to Tyrol. Both are lost at the beginning of the episode. By the end, Kara is on the road to getting answers, perhaps finding some peace. Tyrol, on the other hand, has been destroyed.

The teaser was great. In addition to giving hope immediately that the series was back on track, it did what a really good teaser should: review where we are at, establish the tone, and set up the plot of the episode.

Kara, as they all are, is going through the motions. She has her morning briefing down pat. Same words, day after day. Life is monotony and they’re on the cusp of hopelessness and despair. They are still searching for a habitable planet, but the fleet can’t jump because Galactica can’t, so raptors are now going out on long haul missions. The supply shortages were addressed in a subtle, but direct manner – there is one tube of toothpaste left in the universe. (The toothpaste’s name was not only a nice shout out to the original BSG, but it was also their version of “Frak”).

And Kara states that the mutiny has thinned out the ranks, thus forcing raptor pilots going out alone and accounting for Sixes and Eights now sitting in the pilot briefing. Why couldn’t this one line have been included last week? I still don’t feel it’s a fitting goodbye to Racetrack and the others, but it does establish concisely and clearly that they are gone.

While I’m thrilled by seeing less Bill Adama, I would have liked to see more Laura and Lee. However, Lee really didn’t have much of a place in this episode. His brief scene did establish he followed through on his plan to reform the Quorum, with ship’s captains as delegates. This would imply a much larger forum with the people having more of a voice in government. And the Cylon’s have representation. I believe Lee said her name was Sonja? Lee is moving forward while his father stays tied to a world that is, literally, falling apart around him.

The end seems to be coming for Laura. :( She used to stand in meetings or get up and walk around while she formed her thoughts. I don’t recall seeing her stand once. She just doesn’t have the strength any longer. Her hands are shaking and a simple task like taking off her glasses is now a struggle.

Laura still retains executive powers and signs the order to extradite Boomer to the Cylons. Laura’s feelings toward Boomer paralleled those she had for Baltar. Laura can empathize with the Cylons feeling of betrayal and need for ‘justice’. Of course, we soon find out that Laura’s distrust of Boomer is well founded.

It’s fascinating that the Cylons, who railed against humanity in so many ways, who felt themselves superior, are taking on more and more human attributes. The Cylons, with resurrection technology, couldn’t seek vengeance. If you killed a Cylon, they would come back - but not anymore. Capital punishment is now an option and they are quick to embrace it. And just as quick to blame one of their own for thousands of deaths as the humans were. Is Boomer really responsible for genocide? She voted against her line, but it was Cavil who declared war. Since he’s not there to be punished, Boomer becomes the next best thing.

I suspected last week that the piano player was in Kara’s mind. I’m sure some will take issue with Kara interacting with someone who isn’t there and not being called on it, as Baltar would be if he were caught talking to Head Six. But I actually felt they set up nicely why no on would question Kara’s behavior. There were very few, if any, patrons in the bar. The bartender seemed incredibly disinterested in her. She was drinking heavily. And she has the stress of her husband lying in a coma. Put all that together and I can accept her conversations would go unnoticed or ignored.

I also found it plausible she would confess her resurrection to a stranger. She felt a connection to the man, he let her take a break from her worries for a time, and she had no fears of judgment or alienation. If she had confessed to Lee would he have turned his back on her? No. But they’ve had such a rocky relationship and I could see her questioning how he might react and deciding not to approach him.

Dreilide Thrace is Daniel. While the original Daniel survived Cavil’s destruction of the model line, did he survive the attacks? Or does he only survive as a Head character now? I think he might be alive and waiting for Kara and the fleet at their final destination. Kara’s vision of her father could be another sign post to earth or what will be their earth.

‘All Along the Watchtower’ finally returned and I thought the show did a beautiful job of reintroducing the song and using it to connect so much information together: Kara’s past, her connection to the Cylons, humanity’s journey, the Cylons journey, Hera having a role in all this.

Speaking of Hera, she is one element I’m having some issues with right now. Is she still special if Kara was the first Cylon/Human hybrid? The one thing that make me believes she still is is that it’s she, not Kara, who was present in the Opera House visions.

Oh, Boomer. Oh, Tyrol.OH, HELO.

This episode managed to simultaneously shoot my theories to hell and confirm them. My suspicion as to the ease of Boomer and Ellen’s escape was well founded. Cavil did let them go. Now, not only does he know where the fleet is, he has Hera. (I’m not certain why he wants Hera. I didn’t think he believed in all this mystical crap.)

I do believe Boomer loves Tyrol, but I was mistaken that Ellen’s words on the baseship convinced Boomer she could have her old life back. It’s clear that her alienation from the fleet, from humanity, has done too much damage. She even explicitly states to Tyrol she felt betrayed by him, by everyone, when she was imprisoned and killed. It was foreshadowing of what was to come.

Her actions aren’t born of love for Cavil or a belief that she is one the right side in the civil war. Her vicious beating of Athena, her frakking her husband in front of her (though not planned, she took great, er, pleasure in the moment), and her do or die mentality that could have caused the destruction of Galactica as well as end her own life, all of that was motivated by revenge. She’s consumed by hate and vengeance…and oh so very human.

The scene between Helo and Boomer gutted me. It was one of the most difficult scenes I’ve ever watched on the show. Helo and Athena were the happy, well adjusted couple on the series. If their relationship isn’t ruined, it will never fully recover.

Tyrol recognized Boomer thirty seconds after seeing her. I don’t believe that was a Cylon connection; he recognized the woman he loved. Helo couldn’t tell the difference between his wife and another model and because of that Boomer was able to escape with Hera. I thought one of Grace’s best acting moments was when she was in Helo’s arms crying and her anguish turned to anger as she began hitting him. Not only has her daughter been taken, but she’s hit with the fact the man she loves – and sacrificed so much for – couldn’t be bothered to notice he was having sex with another Eight.

However, this all confirms a long standing suspicion I’ve had about Helo and his relationship with Athena. Did he ever stop to consider who it was he was in love with? He thought it was Boomer who came back to Caprica to rescue him. He thought it was Boomer he was fraking on Caprica. There has never been any indication that he stopped and thought about the fact that he fell in love with one Eight, but was married to another.

I don’t have a lot to say about Tyrol. He got played big time. He murdered a Cylon to rescue Boomer. He’s responsible for Athena and Helo losing their child. How can he recover from this? I don’t think he can. I know I’ll never look at him the same way again.

And a few random thoughts…

Kara seeing her corpse in the mirror was a nice parallel to Lee flashing back to the destruction of the Olympic Carrier in ‘Water’. Both are unable put behind them life altering events.

Sam has a lot of brain activity going on, but no consciousness. My prediction (which will likely bite me in the ass) is that he will become some sort of conduit.

Tyrol’s pleas for Boomer’s life fell on deaf ears with Sonja. The reverence for the Five seems to be over.

I noticed in the bar, as the Four were talking, a woman with a rather large gun behind Tyrol. Drinking and guns? Yeah, that’s going to end well.

Ellen made an interesting comment that Hera writing down the music was a sign she was plugged into something manipulating all of them. That’s the most direct reference yet that some sort of higher power may be involved in everything we’ve seen.

This week, Mo Ryan interviews Weddle and Thompson. I only had time to skim the interview. There was some interesting stuff and I seem to, overall, be on the same page as the writers this week. I was relieved to learn very little was cut (it felt that way), but there was still one moment of rage. :/

Mo: Did Boomer really love the Chief? Or was that final speech to him just another part of her con job?

Weddle: Did Boomer really love the Chief? That’s an interesting question and one I don’t have a neat answer to. Boomer is deeply conflicted. I think the process of having false memories planted in her, getting switched “on” as a Cylon, shooting Adama, getting shot by Cally, and her experiences on New Caprica have left her severely disturbed. She was determined to go through with her mission, but in the process of seducing Tyrol she reawakened feelings of love that she thought were dead. I think she experienced real misgivings just before she got on that Raptor, but felt she had gone too far to back down. Wrapped up in that is her perverse envy of Athena, who obtained everything Boomer once wanted, and this festered into a sick desire to strike out at Athena. It’s difficult to say someone who did that loves the Chief, and yet in her damaged way, I think she did and still does love him.

Thompson: Good question. She may not even know the answer. Boomer’s a complicated, damaged individual. Might both be true?

Well, I still think she truly loved Tyrol, but I don't have a problem with the scenario. We do seem to be in agreement she's envious and damaged and she just wasn't able to overcome that.

Mo: Does the fact that Dreilide Thrace's recording was titled "Live from the Helice Opera House" have any connection to the "Opera House" visions that have long been part of the show?

Thompson: Maybe.

D'Oh! I missed that! But, in my defense, I'm also IMing with someone during the episode. ;)

Mo: Speaking of composition, what had to be cut from "STWOM"? What happened on set that you weren't expecting or that presented difficulties?

Thompson: It’s been a while since I watched all this go down, but I think most of the cuts were in the music because it was long and that was the place where we could best afford the loss. The show was restructured in editing, because Andy and Paul found a way that the climax with Kara and the climax with Boomer could happen simultaneously, which made the end much more satisfying.

And I should note that we’d been admonished (by high level players who will remain nameless) not to have Helo make the mistake he makes. We backed off in subsequent drafts (feeling like we were somehow cheating the fans) until Michael Nankin’s first round of script notes hit Ron, saying, “I can’t believe you have this opportunity and you’re not going all the way with it.” And Ron turned to us and said: “He’s right. It’s so wrong we have to do it!” And we got to put that moment back in the show.

An addendum on Boomer-Tyrol story from Thompson: I recall correctly, the Boomer-Tyrol aspect of this story was something we'd floated in the room in Season 3 but didn't know where it fit or what it would be. Like so many "Battlestar" ideas, it simply hung in limbo until the time was right for maximum impact.

That's one of the genius parts of Ron -- patience. Like with the nuke Six asked Baltar to get. And how it eventually played out. When the time came, we were very happy we'd had that one in our back pocket. But Ron didn't force playing that card until it made sense to do so. Likewise with Boomer-Tyrol.

Damn you Nankin and Moore! And I'm betting the high level players were SciFi execs. You are making me side with the network! As I mentioned, Helo's mistake does raise some interesting questions I've felt have never been addressed. But they did a hell of a lot of damage to Helo and his relationship with Athena and to think they did it because it was wrong is disappointing.

Okay, see, your last paragraph right there, that's why I had to stop writing in real time and wait to see the ending spoiled and distanced. Because I *love* these characters, and they *don't*, and they're willing to just...ARGH. ::hands of rage:: Sorry, I know I'm being an idiot and you must be wondering why I still read these posts, but...it's just so upsetting.

I actually think Ron and the rest of the writers still very much love the characters but, Ron in particular, will let what he thinks is a 'cute' idea get in the way of characterization and storytelling and I have a hard time forgiving that.

I hate to say it, but I liked Moore and Nankin's decision to go there--but only if they actually follow through on it. If they don't, I will curse them forever, because that was significant. It does seem like they understand the implications, though, from that last scene where Athena is crying and hugging Helo and hitting him all at once.

The more I think about this episode, the more I like it, because it connected so many things up so seamlessly, and conveyed a ton of information without resorting to exposition. Good job, show.

I really hope they follow-up and show fall out form what Helo did. But I fear there isn't enough time left and Athena will just forgive him and she shouldn't because she's worked so hard to individualize herself and Helo just proved he can't tell her apart from the rest of the model line. Grrrrrr. (I'm leaving off the Argh because I'm giving Joss nothing now! ;)

I supported the info dump in 'No Exit', but I do prefer being shown to being told and, yes,Weddle and Thompson did a great job here. I also liked that they advanced the plot as well the character arcs. The series has struggled with balancing the two in recent years.

I think you're being too harsh on Helo. Chief is a cylon and guessing that it was Boomer who came back from the cylon fleet isn't that surprising as she was the only one out there.

Helo had no reason to expect that Athena wasn't Athena. Boomer was in Athena's clothes, where Athena was supposed to be and didn't immediately shut Helo down. He was horny and had no reason to question who she was. I don't think Athena will hold his sleeping with Boomer against him and I don't think she should. She was hitting him due to her rage about Hera being missing.

Helo seems to be the great fandom divide this week. For the record, I don't hate him for his mistake. I actually have a bigger problem with Tyrol if that Eight is dead (which I assumed she was) and not just unconscious.

I do feel that Athena has worked so hard to differentiate herself, to prove she's an individual, that it won't be easy for her to forgive Helo for not being able to tell her apart from Boomer. And I didn't feel her rage at the end was just about Hera being taken. But, assuming they get Hera back, I don't think she'll have any desire to break up their family and will, eventually, forgive him.

Tyrol realizing he unwittingly helped Boomer kidnap Hera, the sex, and the scene between Athena/Helo just gutted me. Also, while I had previously suspected it was a Star Wars-esque "They *let* us go" thing with Ellen and Boomer, I was duped by her all the same. I had thought Boomer was being gamed by Cavil, not that she was complicit in the whole thing.

I'll (almost) forgive Helo for not knowing it was Athena since all of the context cues were there and he had no reason to doubt who she was. Couple that with the fact that Boomer does know Karl well enough to get away with it, yeah, I can see how easy it was for him to frak up. Be egads, this is going to be ugly. Unless they're just completely focused on getting their daughter back. Hell, with 3 hours left, it might not even have time to get ugly. BSG has been good at dropping those kinds of detail balls in the past few years.

Also, while I had previously suspected it was a Star Wars-esque "They *let* us go" thing with Ellen and Boomer, I was duped by her all the same.

Me too! I thought Cavil let them go because he was tracking the raptor. I didn't stop to think that Boomer was on a mission on his behalf. Kudos to the show for pulling off that twist.

I'm worried that there isn't time to address all the fallout of Helo's actions and we'll just focus on the search and rescue of Hera. But even if we just have a shot of Helo sleeping in the pliot's quarters or Athena refusing to talk to him, a clue to some lasting damage done to the relationship, I'd be pleased.

I don't know if Tahmoh and Grace would have an issue with the plot twist. I'd be interested in hearing their opinions on the topic though. I just got the impression when they mentioned "high level players" they were were referring to people higher up then Ron and that could only be SciFI execs.

I should probably comment in more depth, and I feel guilty that I don't - you put a lot of effort into these posts, which deserves a proportionate response. I'm afraid I'm finding BSG to be generally depressing though, so I've been catching up with Life instead and trying to put too much effort into the show.

I'm finding myself increasingly frustrated by the disjointed approach to the characters that the writers seem to be following, particularly following that famously touted "it's all about the characters" epiphany; I still think Boomer, Caprica and Head!Six have deserved more reasoned plots and generally more participation in the show given that they were there at the mini.

That's making me cranky with the show as much as anything else - along with the fact that we aren't getting scenes that I'd like to see. I want to find out what's happening with Laura and Lee, and Lee and Kara - he's connected to both those characters and has been since the mini, and I'd love to see a scene between Lee and Laura that's more of a callback and character testament to their roles in the mini and the difficult course ahead rather than simply being there to exercise a plot point. How many times does EJO need to be seen cleaning his teeth on screen, after all?

And during an episode devoted to Kara attempting to grapple with her current existance and the recent past, it would make sense to have her and Lee talk - or at least, to include a sentence explaining why they aren't, so it doesn't look as if that relationship is also too insignificant to bother with at this time.

Although I'm still ranty about the insane "your miscarriage wouldn't have happened if you'd really loved your baby" plotline from last week, which goes against decades of teaching on how to try and help individuals and couples survive something as traumatic as a miscarriage.

I'd agree that the show has a history of dropping the ball with characters. Lee has been largely absent the last two weeks, but it least in Season 4 they put him on a career path that made sense for the character. We had over a season of the character floundering for a place on the show. And I definitely get an "Oops, we forgot about Boomer and Head Six and need to bring them back before we wrap this up" vibe. I pretty much love all the characters on the show, but I think having too many is biting them in the ass now.

I know you are a Lee/Kara shipper and I would agree that their relationship is important to the show, but, honestly, I haven't been disappointed at all by their lack of screentime together. Now, I'm thinking their relationship in Season 3 was such a turn off to me that I'm just relieved not to have to put up with any possible angst. That's selfish, I know, and I certainly can empathize with your frustration (Lee/Laura shipper here ;), but it's just not bothering me.

As for Lee and Kara not talking, I guess my rationale has been that between sleeping, seeing to her duties, and visiting Sam she just hasn't had time. And he's been busy reforming the government. Though, there were additional scenes between Sam and Kara that were cut and Jamie mentioned in some interview that he had two scenes in this episode. I wonder if the other scene may have been Lee going to visit Kara and Sam to see how both were doing? It's pure supposition on my part.

For the sake of my sanity and rage levels I have to ignore Ron's theory that a lack of love had anything to do with the miscarriage. I'm of the Doc Cottle mindset that these things just happen, especially when two Cylons have never created a child that came to term.

I'm wondering if the Cylon goo isn't doing what they hoped because there isn't a hybrid directing it, so to speak. Anytime a baseship has needed repairs it's the hybrid overseeing them. But does someone make the leap that Sam needs to be plugged into the ship in order for both to survive or does it just happen? Connected to all those machines he is, in a way, already connected to the ship. Maybe the power surges and drops were a sign that a change was taking place.

Yeah, I liked this episode too. Much, much better than last week. I'm still bitter about that since it was an episode all about two of my favourite characters, though. GRR.

And seriously, they're killing me with this Daniel Thrace thing. Like you, it's so obvious, I think he Dreilide Thrace has to be Daniel. But the fact they don't explicitly say so worries me because I'm so...weirded out and overinvested in the thing. I'm like, super-skeptical that the show'd give me what I want. It's come very close to trashing or ditching both Caprica and Laura (not that they can't fix it, but I just mean in terms of 4.5 treatment in general), and I'm worried they'll do the same to Kara's backstory. I hate being so...*flappy* about this show. Especially when the episode itself is really, really good.

The moment where the music resolved into All Along the Watchtower (well, technically it's not; it resolves into a theme Bear McCreary introduced at, I think, the start of S3 and that he incorporated into his cover of Watchtower and that we now associate strongly with Watchtower, but you know what I meant!) is just brilliant. I love it. And the entirety of the intro.

I'm actually okay with Helo not being able to tell Athena from anyone else. I mean, it's not just any other Eight, it's Boomer and like you say, it's interesting given that he loved her first. Cylons can tell the difference, but humans? When they're genetically identical and more similar than identical twins?

I'm somewhat consoled that the podcast said this would definitely affect the way Athena viewed Helo. I'm also actually on the side of the writers in this one not the network since apparently their reasons for not wanting him to not be able to tell the difference was that it would damage his upright moral character. To be honest, I don't think it does damage how I view him, it's just tragic, but I certainly think that Helo, if anything, suffers from being too infallible. Not that I'd wish this on anyone, I just think it's interesting, if horrible, and if there's fallout it's a storyline that could play really well.

Thanks also for the link to the interview. The cautious "maybe" strikes me as a coded yes rather than an attempt not to say, "no, we were just being cute," because if anything these writers admit more often than they should that they didn't mean anything by dropping something in there. Which reassures me somewhat that we'll get some concrete answers about Daniel/Dreilide.

I think it's safe to say 'Deadlock' is to you what 'Black Market' is to me. ;p

I think he Dreilide Thrace has to be Daniel.

He HAS to be. The music is the key. Would they really establish that Dreillide just happen to know a Cylon song from 2,000 years ago? My guess would be he learned it from Sam...which ups the weirdness level since he married his daughter!

My assumption is they haven't definitively established the two are one in the same because it will be revealed in the finale when, somehow, Kara is reunited with her father.

I still feel something should have pinged for Helo. The ship is crawling with Eights now and a switch could happen and she wasn't her usual affectionate self. But Helo has always been the great Cylon defender, particularly of the Eights, so, in his mind, they would never do anything duplicitous...even though they have time and again. :p

I can't believe I'm defending the network (Damn you, Ron!), but I can see how they, in such a dark show filled to capacity with grey, morally ambiguous characters who've had to do some horrific things, would like the idea of having this one good, reasonably happy guy, devoted to his family, always striving to do the right thing. I just think it was a gut reaction on their part like, "Oh, man, now you're taking him down a dark path too! Can't anyone catch a break, Ron?"

There has never been any indication that he stopped and thought about the fact that he fell in love with one Eight, but was married to another.

That is a great point, though I think he fell in love with Athena more than Boomer. He may have crushed on Boomer, but it was the experience on Caprica that really sealed their relationship, if I remember correctly (which might not be the case, since you rewatched and I didn't).

The experience together on Caprica definitely sealed their relationship, but right before they have sex he confesses how he felt about her, but knew about her relationship with the Chief and didn't want to interfere with that so my assumption was he was already in love with her. And the Cylons must have been convinced of that too since they believed love was needed to create life. Maybe Athena will broach the subject now considering what happened.

I've never been a Helo or Helo/Athena fan (their relationship seemed a bit boring to me once they got married) but I liked so much what happened with them here. For one thing, BSG is not a happy show, they were shining with joy for the last episodes so it has a lot of sense that they get a more real (and frakked up) relationship by the end of the series. The fact that he didn't know who he was with seemed quite improbable (not only because of her face but because I don't think every 8 talks and gestures the same exact way), which makes me wonder if he never knew which of them was Athena (he didn't love her) or if he did know she wasn't her/she was Boomer and wanted to frak her because she's the one he's always been in love with.

I can't wait to see Boomer's plan and what happens with her and the chief (poor guy).

I've always questioned who Helo loves because Helo never stopped to question it. And I have to wonder if she hadn't gotten pregnant if he would have been so quick to accept her and declare his feelings for her. Maybe the issue will finally be addressed this week. At the very least we need to see Athena's justified rage at working so hard to be an individual only to find out her husband can easily mistake another Eight for her.